James Evangelo Nitties (born 23 October 1982) is an Australian

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who has played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

and now plays on the

PGA Tour of Australasia The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for World Golf Ra ...

Amateur career

Nitties was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He suffered from juvenile

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

as a child and young adult, which restricted his flexibility. This caused him to have to take pain killers to restrict the pain from his back. In 2003, he won the

New Zealand Amateur The New Zealand Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of New Zealand. It has been played annually since 1893, except for the war years, and is organised by New Zealand Golf. Currently the event is played over five days and consists ...

and finished second at the

Western Amateur The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association. The Western Amateur features an international field of top-ranked amateur golfers. It was first ...

to Ryan Moore in 19 holes. He turned professional in 2004.

Professional career

In 2004, Nitties joined the

NGA Hooters Tour SwingThought, formerly the NGA Pro Golf Tour, is the oldest developmental golf tour based in the United States. The tour was acquired by Golf Interact in 2014 and rebranded as SwingThought. The tour consists of around 25 professional golf tourna ...

where he played for three years, winning once. While he played the Hooters Tour, he played a select few of events on the Nationwide Tour and the

. Nitties took part on the Golf Channel's series The Big Break: Mesquite where he was eliminated during the 7th episode. Nitties qualified for the

in 2009 by finishing in a tie for second at

Q-school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

with

Derek Fathauer Derek Fathauer (born January 20, 1986) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Web.com Tour. Fathauer was born in Stuart, Florida. He attended Martin County High School in Stuart, Florida. He and his twin brothe ...

, behind Harrison Frazar. He had success in his rookie season on the PGA Tour in 2009, with two top ten finishes early at the

FBR Open The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in late January/early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona. The tournament was originally the Arizona ...

, where he held the first round lead and the

Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun The World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Mexico, held at Playa del Carmen, south of Cancún. It debuted in February 2007 and was the first PGA Tour event in Mexico this century. Histo ...

. He also shared the opening round lead at the

HP Byron Nelson Championship The AT&T Byron Nelson is a golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, currently hosted by TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, northeast of Dallas. Held in May, it is one of two PGA Tour stops in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex – which until the 2020 ...

. He retained his tour card, finishing 96th on the money list. Nitties won the 2011

Midwest Classic The AdventHealth Championship is a Korn Ferry Tour event that was played for the first time in 2009 as the Christmas in October Classic. It has been played at the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate in Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the ...

on the Nationwide Tour. He finished 26th on the Nationwide Tour's money list, one spot short of a promotion to the PGA Tour. On 8 February 2019, Nitties matched the world record of nine consecutive birdies in the

ISPS Handa Vic Open The Vic Open is an annual golf tournament held in Australia. It was founded in 1957 and is the Victoria state open championship for men. It is run by Golf Victoria and is a Golf Australia national ranking event. The event is held concurrently ...

. His birdie run from the 15th to the fifth in the first round set a European Tour record and matched

Mark Calcavecchia Mark John Calcavecchia (born June 12, 1960) is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he won 13 PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. He plays on the Champions Tour as well ...

's feat in the 2009 Canadian Open.

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (2)

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

NGA Hooters Tour wins (1)

*2006 Base Camp Realty Chesdin Landing Open

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

''Note: Nitties only played in the U.S. Open.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut

Team appearances

Amateur *

Nomura Cup The Nomura Cup, also known as the Asia-Pacific Amateur Golf Team Championship, is a biennial amateur team golf championship for men organised by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation. The inaugural event was held in 1963 and it has been played in odd ...

(representing Australia): 2003 (winners) *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eisen ...

(representing Australia): 2004 * Bonallack Trophy (representing Asia/Pacific): 2004 (winners) *

Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches The Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches were an amateur team golf competition for men between the states and territories of Australia. The event started in 1904 when New South Wales played Victoria. Until World War II the event was played a ...

(representing New South Wales): 2002 (winners), 2003, 2004

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nitties, James Australian male golfers PGA Tour of Australasia golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfers from Melbourne Sportspeople from Newcastle, New South Wales 1982 births Living people